Formed composite parts are commonly used in applications, such as aircraft and vehicles, where lightweight and high strength are desired. Fabricating composite parts requires the use of a lay-up tool (also known as a base tool, forming tool or mandrel) on which layers of composite materials laid one ply at a time. Typically, composite materials in the form of pre-impregnated composite fiber plies or “prepregs” such as epoxy impregnated carbon fiber tape, are laminated using some combination of hand lay-up or automated machine lay-up tool. When the forming tool has a concave cavity an operator must manually manipulate each ply of the prepreg in order to conform the ply to the concave shape of the tool in order to ensure a high quality final part. This may require the operators to use their fingertips to push and form the ply into the cavity causing fatigue. Further, reaching down into the cavity is not ergonomic and can result in non-uniform application of pressure that may create variations in ply thickness of the formed composite part. Traditional plastic sweep tools are not effective to conform plies to such concave tooling because they do not match the shape of such tools. This degree of manual labor can result in time-consuming and costly fabrication.
Accordingly, there is a need for a forming apparatus and a method of using such an apparatus that can replace the existing manual methods and that can effectively and efficiently conform composite plies to the cavity contours of concave mandrels.